COD4 hasn't changed much in SP, not that it's bad but I really rather spend half the price getting only Multiplayer.
Though the story increases to be much more intense than the previous games, the gameplay doesn't appear to improve much. Again you get lots of weapons to choice this time, modern ones, maybe a GL, a scope and so on and you go shooting some rebels. The weapons feel very much the same and the sounds are very disapponiting, unsatisfied soft clicks rather making things noisy. One good thing though that you get more rockets to shoot in this game.
And once again in the fashion of you somehow being dragged to every special task, you are always called to use something special, which can be annoying sometimes as there isn't a clear reason why you were chosen when you were fighting on the 2nd floor and needed to go down and get it while there are 20 teamates next to the rocket and just refuses to use it.
Speaking of teamates, your teamates are pretty much stupid comparing to the standards of today. In WWII, you can forgive if your guys go up and start punching around or cowering by retreating. But c'mon, today's US marines are supposed to be tatical, they act exactly the same as the guys in COD2 and COD3, and they always happen to be following you around(even though you play as Private First Class for the USMC, a sergeant in the SAS), even for Captains, they say "Hey we gotta hurry up!" Instead they just lag around you, instead of bringing the team's spirit to move foward.
As for tension in gameplay, very well you expect all sorts of excuses to make you shoot more and shorten your time limits. It pretty feels much stupid as one of the most common reasons are "Helicopters are running out of fuel after flying twenty minutes" and so there you go you have seven minutes to shoot 50 guys and reach the helicopter.
The combat again feels the same and very outdated and stupid in the game. As again the only sentence I can use is "Move foward or you might as well wait tell you're ammo depletes" Why? That's because the enemies happen to have infinite reinforcements. Let's say that you happen to be a sniper or playing hardened or veteran difficulty, you are forced to use mid-range or long range attacks, then after each shot another guy comes around again and replaces the guy you shot. This feels fraustrating as it forces you to take a risk and move foward and kill the enemy's spawn or die trying. And all these happens all around the game and basically you're just repeating this time to time the whole game until you reach the end of the level. By the time you really played to the end, you will unlock arcade mode and you can shoot around the same, only with score points. But consider that you've repeated these shooting and run for the clock without a clear reason a hundred times, I don't think you really are gonna play that. Though all these disappointments about replaying there is enemy intelligence where you can pick up in the level and use some official cheats. They are quite fun and amusing sometimes, especially "Ragtime Warfare", which speeds up the game by four times and it turns into a video from the 1920s and bring some very fast piano music and die soon. Though not much of a chance of survival, it's fun to watch these guys moving fast and with the music kicking in.
Though the game does bring 2 new things including the gunship mission and some "Stealth Missions". The gunship again has no reason for you being in it as you're supposed to be an SAS sergeant and has to the RAF Dirty Job without a clear explaination. Though without reason, personally that's the best mission I can tell you to expect. Why do I add quote notes on Stealth Mission? Simple, because these stealth are total lies. Everything is purely scripted to force your enemies to be blind for a while and forces you to do whatever the game commands you to. Prove? Simple, All I did was happen to shoot a guy in a building that they told me not to, as the game told me my ghillie suit should protect me from being spotted while proning. I sprinted 20 metres down the road and waited as the game warned me somebody was alerted. To my surprise that after one minute, three guys who clearly have just spawned from the map knew my position and just started blowing me to pieces. While clearly scripted, the stealth here is absolutely a disappointment to Splinter Cell fans. Another example, in a mission you have to get through a field "undetected", while I really did make through the field with the team undetected, suddenly these guys just stopped and refused to move. After a while as the enemy patrol comes close, we were spotted and got pinned by a helicopter. Consider just story driven things can be stupid, it's better make things logical. Seriously
Talking about scripted, everything in the game is pretty straight foward and scripted, the level designs are incredebly ingenious and stupid. You happen have to follow the straight road and shoot people and run foward and maybe die. Conside many games now have designed alternatives and flanking posiitons, the developers clearly ignored to be realistic and set up roadblocks in alleyways and make things look stupid. Also that though the new thin wall penetration, it feels stupid when you shoot through as the wall doesn't seem to react but the other side of the wall the guy gets blown.
The physics are pretty weel disappointing, as again whatever is destroyed, unsurprisingly again, is scripted, there is nothing for you to destroy for your amusement in the game and you can shoot 30 rockets to a wall and the wall doesn't even react with cracks or turns black from the explosion. Though all this disappointment you can shoot cars and suddenly they will explode. But consider the fact that shooting any part would blow it up(Not the engine nor the fuel tank) feels yet again, scripted and unrealistic.
Graphics are pretty well done to today's standard, with the cool lighting and burning fires around it does give you one sense of reality back from all these stupid scripted things.
The weapons, though you get to have over 30 of them, feels almost the same as everything, as there is no difference between an AK47 and an M16A4, though one uses the 5.56x2.4mm and has better accuracy, while the other has 7.62x4.6mm and sacrifices accuracy, the designers were to lazy to even to think about making some difference or go and learn from the army, instead just turning everything the same besides the sound, the name and it's outshape. Explosions again are very disappointing as your GL and Rocket blast perimeter instead of around ten metres you've seen in the movies, unless you hit your target straight at him, the guy is gonna survive the blow most llikely. Also the unlike kicking up debris, they just blow and some particles come up and disappear like vapour.
Speaking of sounds, again you can expect the same lines from the COD2 and COD3. YES!! SAME LINES, your teamates will say "Potato Masher, Run!" Conside the fact that your enemies aren't using stick grenades that look like a potato masher anymore, it just feels plain. As mentioned before, the gun sounds are purely soft little clicks(even for rockets!) and doesn't make a fighting atmosphere.
The game's main highlight(I mean only highlight), is the multiplayer. As improved a lot from COD2 and COD3, which all you did was shoot around, now you have levels to advance up to 55. As you advance each level you will get a new weapon or weapon attachment(such as the useless GL), this makes things having a desire to play unlike the SP which is entirely broken and stupid.
COD4 is very much a great disappointment to me(I can't say to everyone since everybody is giving it a very high score o_O), the Singleplayer mode feels entirely broken and not much work has been done on this game's physics, besides copying the very same scripted things from COD2 and COD3. Though with this Multiplayer improvement, the game is totally feels dragged by recycling almost everything from the previous WWII games and so for I would say this game isn't worth your choice for real high-expectation players. If you're looking for another run-and-gun game, this is certainly a very good choice for you. But for players who really want some reality, this isn't your choice.
(NOTE: BEFORE I CHECKED MY GRAMMAR FOR THIS REVIEW I HAD 2 OUT OF 5 RECOMMENDED. I'M NOT SURE IF GS IS REALLY GOING TO KEEP THAT AFTER THIS GRAMMAR EDIT. AND I REALLY DID PREDICT I WOULD GET MORE REBUKES THAN RECOMMENDS SINCE EVERYBODY GIVES THIS A 10. I'M NOT BUYING BUYEST OR SOMETHING BUT REALLY THIS GAME IS A HUGE LETDOWN TO ME. REBUKE ME ALL YOU LIKE, THIS IS JUST WHAT I THINK AND I DO RESPECT PEOPLE WHO LIKE THIS)